Pronouns – these can be pronounced in the weak form at the end of a phrase he
/(h)i/6 him her us them7 /(h)ɪm/ /(h)ə(r)/
/əs/ /s/ before let /ð(ə)m/
there8 /ðə(r)/
Conjunctions and9 as
/(ə)n/ /əz/
but than that10 /bət/
/ð(ə)n/ /ðət/
Prepositions11 at
/ət/ for /fə(r)/ from /fr(ə)m/
Is he ok? He went home.
I’ve already told him.
I’ll phone her tomorrow. I’ll see her tomorrow
Tell us where to meet you. Let’s go!
I’ve already told them. There’s a problem.
I want fish and chips. As big as possible.
But I don’t think that’s right. She’s younger than me. I think that it’s important.
The meeting’s at twelve. It’s for me.
He’s fromFrance. /hiː/ /hɪm/ /həː/ /ʌs/
/ðԑm/ /ðԑː/
/and/ /az/ /bʌt/ /ðan/ /ðat/
/at/ /fɔː/
/frɒm/ ˈHe’s the man we’re looking for! I’ve told ˈhimbut not ˈher. I’ll emailed ˈher – not ˈhim. They wanted ˈus – not ˈthem. It’s not ˈyou who’s the problem – it’s ˈthem. I said “ ˈthere’s a problem” not “ ˈwhere’s a problem”.
I said “ ˈand”, not “ ˈend”. What’s he working as? ˈBut! If we think about it…. Who is she younger than?
Listen carefully: I. Think. That. You. Should. Stop.
What are you looking at? What’s that for? Where’s he from?
6 /i/ produces a contemporary and modern pronunciation. In other textbooks you may see /ɪ/, which is more old-fashioned. 7 themselves is usually /ðəmˈsԑlvz/. 8 Not to be confused with the adverb of place there, which is always pronounced /ðԑː/: you can see them there! 9 Adding a /d/ to the weak form when a vowel follows is more formal: bananas and apples /ənd apəlz/. The weak form /ən/ is much more common. 10 Not to be confused with the determiner that which is always pronounced /ðat/: That’s right! That’s the book I was talking about. Notice this example where the meaning of the
sentence changes: Bill thinks that man is evil /ðət/ (=humanity is evil) compared to Bill thinks that man is evil /ðat/ (=a particular man is evil). 11 Before unaccented pronouns, prepositions can be weak or strong: I’m working for them /fə ðəm/ or /fɔː ðəm/. But prepositions must be weak before accented pronouns: I’m working for ˈthem is /fə ðԑm/ and not /fɔː ðԑm/.
